paloma91
|
posted on December 7, 2002 08:34:26 AM
I have boxes of stuff to sell on ebay that are located all over the house. These are the antiques or higher priced items that just won't move at the prices i want in today's market. So they sit and I wait. That's not really my problem right now.
I need some feedback as to what to do with the bigger items that I cannot safely ship myself. It is just me and my little boy packing and taking to the post office.
I have two beautiful ceiling lights that are old. One from the 20's the other is from the 50s - 60's. I could: give them to the goodwill! (don't really want to do that 'cuz right now I REALLY need the $$) Put an ad in the free paper and pray? .. or list it on ebay and not have them sell - unless I want to sell them for $5 - $10
Any thoughts on this one? I live in the SF bay area. Any ideas where I can sell them or advertise them to sell at a decent price???
Thanks so much ahead of time.
[ edited by paloma91 on Dec 7, 2002 08:36 AM ]
|
smenkveld
|
posted on December 7, 2002 09:03:43 AM
Sell them at a local auction house. You will get more for them at a local auction house then you will on ebay unless they are rare and have signed shades on them.
|
rarriffle
|
posted on December 7, 2002 09:43:33 AM
Listing it on ebay doesn't cost that much and you could be pleasantly surprised...
List it at the lowest price you would take for it and put a high enough shipping charge to use Mail Boxes etc or another professional packer/shipper..
If it sells...whoopee...if it doesn't you would be out a few bucks but at least you tried...
Most auction houses have increased their fees until the seller is only getting half what the item is worth, or less...not much of an alternative in my book.
[ edited by rarriffle on Dec 7, 2002 09:45 AM ]
|
Libra63
|
posted on December 7, 2002 10:41:10 AM
Try at a consignment shop. Most antique stores will sell one of a kind items that you have for a percentage. If the chandelers are ornate and fit into the decore of the antique shop you might get a nice price for them. Look in the yellow pages for the phone numbers of your antique stores and talk with them about them. I doubt if the newspaper would bring you what you want for them. Another way is to sell them on eBay and then take them to a place that will package them for you. Mail boxes unlimited comes to mind. But ofcourse you have to talk with them first about what they charge so that you can include it in your S/H
|
Libra63
|
posted on December 7, 2002 10:43:17 AM
rarriffle-we must think alike. Isn't that scarry.
|
stopwhining
|
posted on December 7, 2002 10:55:15 AM
watch out for some antique stores,they could be out of business if you dont check up on them often.
|
birgittaw
|
posted on December 7, 2002 05:50:47 PM
Hello:
It would be helpful to know exactly what kind of lights these may be -- chandeliers with prisms? Tin ceiling 2 hole barebulb lights? And it would also be helpful to know about the ballpark price you might be looking to receive; ie. substantial amounts?
One possibility is to check antique stores, preferably those who specialize in vintage lighting or retro items, and see what they may offer on a straight sale.
Consignment is probably your best bet if you don't want to deal with eBay. I am assuming you have checked for eBay completed auctions for lights already? A consigment store will also tell you if your asking price is a realistic one at which the light will move in your area.
It may also be wise to wait until after the holidays at which point attention turns to home improvments!
Cheers.
B/
|
paloma91
|
posted on December 8, 2002 06:32:42 AM
You all have been so helpful! Thanks so very much! You mentioned chandeliers! On my, I just remembered I have one of those too but it is packed away. Very old. It is Crystal and real silver. That one I think I will keep. Can't use it but it's under the house wrapped out and out of the way.
Thw two that I want to sell, I do have fotos of but I don't think it would help to post them here. One is cut pieces of green glass and blue glass with a kind of lead or something in between the squares and the other is one of those that can be pulled down or pushed back up to ceiling height. If it goes up and down, is it considered a swag lamp? I am not sure of the terminology. Could be milk glass for a covering. Never seen anything like these before.
I did check ebay, I see so many things, including mine that are not selling. I know it is due to the ecconomy. I think I will try asking a consignment shop or try Yahoo's classifieds or something cheap and local as these are big and would be very diffult for me to ship safely.
|
birgittaw
|
posted on December 8, 2002 07:01:15 AM
If the leaded slag/stained glass light is from the 20's, it could be a good one, depending. Would you post photo, or email me privately? ([email protected])
B/
|
paloma91
|
posted on December 8, 2002 07:10:26 AM
birgittaw, Thank you so much. The multi colored one is from (I think) around the 60's the other one is from earlier. I will try to post the fotos. I don't want to clog up your email box with my fotos. Let's see if I can post them here. OH Geez, My html code skills are very limited. How do I list only the fotos? I need to learn that anyway.
[ edited by paloma91 on Dec 8, 2002 07:52 AM ]
|
rarriffle
|
posted on December 8, 2002 07:17:50 AM
Libra, not scary at all, we often think alike and actually deal in a lot of the same type items, such as jewelry.
|
paloma91
|
posted on December 14, 2002 07:23:49 AM
I think I figured out how to list the fotos of the two lamps. the top one (if it shows up, is made of glass. The second one is metal and glass and can be lowered and raised from the cord above. Is that called a swag lamp? I hope these work.
OK i GIVE UP! HOW IN THE HECK TO DO I LIST A FOTO HERE AND NOT JUST THE URL !! Please help me!
[ edited by paloma91 on Dec 14, 2002 07:28 AM ]
|
ohmslucy
|
posted on December 14, 2002 07:48:19 AM
Hi Paloma,
Listing on eBay should be no problem since you're in the Bay area. Just put in your auction bidder must pick up.
Lucy
|
paloma91
|
posted on December 14, 2002 07:59:01 AM
Lucy, Thanks so much. I think I will do that. Can you PLEASE tell me how to list a foto here on AW? I have done it in the past and it's worked. I used the same html code this time and it didnt work. I am going to try it again here. ---- Didnt work! I am using:
<IMG SRC="http://hosting.com/filename.jpg">
Is that wrong? shouldnt that work?
[ edited by paloma91 on Dec 14, 2002 08:01 AM ]
|
ohmslucy
|
posted on December 14, 2002 08:04:25 AM
Hi Paloma,
I hope I do this right... You need to take out the stars.
[*image] then the url of your image then [/image*]
Lucy
Edited to add, here's another one...
[ img ] insert your image file location here with no spaces [ /img ]
[ edited by ohmslucy on Dec 14, 2002 08:06 AM ]
|
paloma91
|
posted on December 14, 2002 08:19:15 AM
Thanks so much Lucy! I have been struggling with this for over a week! Here goes nothing:
It worked It worked! LUCY, thanks so very much! You are a lifesaver!
Here is the other one and now I am done with my quest (sigh)
[ edited by paloma91 on Dec 14, 2002 08:28 AM ]
|
ohmslucy
|
posted on December 14, 2002 08:39:42 AM
Hi Paloma,
Nice lamps! The pull-down one would be perfect in my 1925 house. I wonder if it could travel by Greyhound? I'm only a couple hundred miles from San Fran.
I don't think either one is a swag lamp. Swag lamps have a long chain with the cord running through it. The idea is you can plug it in the wall and then hang the lamp wherever you want it.
Lucy
Edited typo...
[ edited by ohmslucy on Dec 14, 2002 08:41 AM ]
|
paloma91
|
posted on December 14, 2002 08:53:34 AM
Thanks Luc, Yes the second one is from the 1920's. All original. You see, that's my problem. I have no way to ship these things and make sure they reach the buyer safely!! Are you in California?
|
ohmslucy
|
posted on December 14, 2002 08:58:54 AM
Hi Paloma,
I'm in San Luis Obispo. Just about halfway between San Fran and L.A.
Lucy
|
paloma91
|
posted on December 14, 2002 09:07:39 AM
OH! you live where I have always wanted to live but probably will never make it there! Too bad you don't live closer. I have a HUGE bunch of stuff that would look wonderful in your house! From standing lamps, pictures, ceramics. YOu could browse through the boxes piled on the floor and stuff hanging on the walls. Oh GEEZ Oh well.
Here is my thought. Tell me what you think. I have been checking out these types of lamps / lights on ebay and I think due to the market, ecconomy etc, they are NOT really selling. So, my thought is to list them on Ebay and list the auctions on Craigslist. (Being in Calif. I thought you might have heard of them) What do you think? Is it against some kind of rules or something?
|
ohmslucy
|
posted on December 14, 2002 09:51:36 AM
Oh, yes, prowling through your stuff would be fun! Matter of fact, you might enjoy rummaging around in mine.
You're right, hanging lamps don't sell for a whole lot on eBay. I suspect the shipping cost is a factor. Most of them don't list shipping at all. What do you need for the one I like?
I do think you could send your lamps by Greyhound. I sent a whole computer set-up to my nephew in Sacramento that way. He got in in hours. Worked great and didn't cost a whole lot, either.
I don't think putting an ad on Craigslist would be against eBay rules. Only thing is if you had an eBay bid you'd need to cancel the ad. Anyone else know about this?
Lucy
|
paloma91
|
posted on December 14, 2002 10:24:43 AM
What do I need for this one? You mean how much do I want for it? I don't know how much they go for. Money is tighter than tight for me as I am sure it is for alot of others in my situation. I am starting to list them now on ebay and craigs. we'll see what happens from there.
|
ohmslucy
|
posted on December 14, 2002 10:35:04 AM
Good - let us know when they're listed. Lucy
|
paloma91
|
posted on December 14, 2002 10:50:27 AM
Luc, I need your help again. How do I list a URL??? is it:
[ *url ] add web address here [ */url ]
without the spaces and stars? I feel like such an idiot
|
ohmslucy
|
posted on December 14, 2002 10:54:11 AM
You got it!
Lucy
|
paloma91
|
posted on December 14, 2002 11:05:42 AM
well, looks like you can't list on both places. I have the green one listed and tried to list it on craigs with a link to the auction and it was blocked. Now what?
|
ohmslucy
|
posted on December 14, 2002 11:10:14 AM
I don't know anything about Craigslist. Maybe their ads won't accept a link. Might have to just copy/paste the description. Is there a place for a picture on Craigs?
|
paloma91
|
posted on December 14, 2002 11:17:14 AM
WHEW<p>
Ok, green one listed in both places. Cant link 'em. What do you think?
http://www.craigslist.org/sfo/pen/for/7380048.html
|
ohmslucy
|
posted on December 14, 2002 11:32:09 AM
Looks good!
I took a look at your auction, which looks good too. I like that you listed your reserve in the description.
However - - I think you have a teeny-tiny-typo in the description.
Lamp must be paid for and picked up within 104 days of auction close.
|
paloma91
|
posted on December 14, 2002 11:39:18 AM
Luc,teeny-tiny-typo !!! That's a huge one! Thanks. correcting it now. Hey! how did you find the auction???
|
